Norris surprised by pace of Red Bull attack

Lando Norris has conceded that he has been caught by surprise at how quickly Red Bull have been caught, most notably, by McLaren. 

The British driver predicted at the start of the season that Red Bull's dominance would come to an end, something which appears to be on the cards. 

Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Norris have all won races already this season, leading to suggestions that a title fight could be in the making.

It is McLaren's improvement which has continued to leave many stunned, considering that 12 months ago, the Woking-based outfit were towards the bottom of the pecking order. 

Whilst Norris and Oscar Piastri started 2024 well, a recent upgrade at the Miami Grand Prix – where Norris won – has thrown the Briton in particular into genuine title contention.

"I think all year we've been closer, and I said the beginning of the year that people are going to start to beat Red Bull and catch them," Norris told select media including RacingNews365. 

"I feel like maybe we started to do that earlier than I expected, but at the same time the guys have bought some good upgrades to the car. 

"They've helped us make a good step for us to be ahead here, and then close in Imola and ahead in Miami. It's a very good sign, so I'm positive, I'm very happy. 

"I'm looking forward to the future and what we're able to do, because we know we have places to improve and as soon as we improve them a little bit more, then I think we can win more races."

Slow-speed struggles

McLaren's main weakness, in Norris' eyes, is its performance in slow-speed corners. The British driver outlined Turn 7 at Imola as a specific example.

Norris fell just seven tenths of a second short of victory in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix earlier in May, although being stronger in slow-speed corners could have made an instrumental difference in his fight with Max Verstappen.

"It's still our biggest weakness," said Norris. "Even if you look to Imola, like Turn 7, our worst corner – the chicane – so one of our worst corners.

"I don't think we're bad, what I'm saying is it's our biggest weakness we're talking about, maybe half-a-tenth at times and that kind of thing."